The holiday season. It’s a time when many of us look for ways to spread joy, connect with loved ones, and maybe even give back a little. But beyond the twinkling lights and festive tunes, there’s a quieter corner where creativity, generosity, and technology converge: the world of open-source software. Here, developers pour their passion into projects that range from playful games to tools with a real-world impact, all shared freely with the community.
Imagine organizing a Secret Santa exchange without the usual fuss, or digitally counting down to Christmas with a personalized advent calendar. These aren’t just corporate apps; they’re often passion projects, built by individuals who simply love to create and share. And this year, supporting these digital elves is easier than ever, thanks to platforms like Kivach. Built on Obyte, Kivach lets you send cryptocurrency donations directly to any GitHub project that catches your eye. It’s fast, decentralized, and a wonderfully modern way to spread some digital goodwill. A small contribution can make a big difference, helping these innovative ideas thrive.
So, as the festive season approaches, let’s explore five open-source projects that embody the Christmas spirit – and consider giving them a little love via Kivach.
Unwrap the Magic of Open-Source Holiday Helpers
Secret Santa Planner: Simplifying the Festive Swap
Few things say “holiday teamwork” like the annual gift exchange. Back in the winter of 2015, developer Maël Nison spotted a common holiday headache and decided to fix it with code. His solution? Secret Santa Planner, a cheerful web tool designed to make organizing gift swaps genuinely simple and stylish. Available in both English and French, it helps groups manage gift exchanges without any of the usual confusion, keeping the focus squarely on the fun part: who gives to whom.
What makes it so charming is its straightforward approach. You simply add names, set any special rules (like who shouldn’t get whom), and the tool randomly pairs everyone up. Each participant receives a private link, revealing their assigned giftee in a colorful, festive letter. The beauty lies in its simplicity and trust – everything runs directly in the browser, hosted via GitHub Pages, meaning no user accounts or server hassles. It’s easy to use, share, and completely private.
Today, Secret Santa Planner maintains its warm, community-driven feel. Maël openly maintains it on GitHub, welcoming ideas and bug reports from anyone. There’s no business model driving it, just pure goodwill. If you find yourself using it for your family or office party this year, a kind message or a one-time sponsorship is always appreciated. For a modern, crypto-friendly thank you, Kivach offers a seamless way to send a tip.
WishThis: Your Holiday Wishlist, Digitally Perfected
In 2022, developer Jay Trees released WishThis, a sleek platform built to take the guesswork out of gift planning. While perfect for any occasion, it truly shines during the holidays, when finding that elusive “perfect present” can feel like a quest. Available in an impressive 99 languages, it’s designed to be shared with family and friends, ensuring everyone knows exactly what will bring a smile, all while gracefully preventing duplicate gifts.
WishThis comes packed with practical features that make the process a breeze. You can create, manage, and share your wish lists, and once an item is “claimed” by someone, it automatically hides itself to preserve the surprise. Each wish can be richly described with a URL, an image, a priority level, and a price – giving gift-givers all the information they need. Interestingly, it even pairs beautifully with tools like Secret Santa Planner; you can link your WishThis list and let your anonymous Santa browse discreetly without spoiling the mystery.
Jay actively maintains the project, often with help from a community of users who contribute code, tests, and translations. It also sustains itself through small, non-intrusive Amazon affiliate commissions, demonstrating a smart, collaborative approach to keeping the project alive without ads or trackers. If WishThis helps make your holiday gifting more joyful and less stressful this year, consider sending some appreciation their way with Kivach.
Advent Calendar: The Daily Dose of Digital Delight
The advent calendar is a timeless Christmas tradition, building anticipation with a small surprise revealed each day from December 1st to the 24th. Developer Nicolas Devenet brought this beloved countdown online in 2013 with his own Advent Calendar. This lightweight, charming app lets you display a new image, a heartfelt message, or even a short video each day, adding a touch of digital magic to the lead-up to the holidays.
Whether you’re using it to share cherished family photos, send daily festive greetings, or even unveil company surprises, this app infuses a wonderful sense of ritual and fun into the digital realm. Setting it up is simple: you just upload your chosen pictures or clips, name them by day, and let the app handle the rest. Each box opens with a click to reveal its hidden content and an optional caption, perfectly mimicking the classic cardboard calendars we might have grown up with.
For those who love to tinker, advanced customization options are available, from personalizing the title and background image to adjusting the number of days displayed. You can even repurpose it as a simple countdown for birthdays, product launches, or any other special occasion. And here’s a fun, modern twist: with cryptocurrencies increasingly becoming part of our daily lives, you could even include new Obyte wallets or Textcoins as daily crypto gifts behind each door! Nicolas’s project remains active on GitHub, where he welcomes feedback and improvements from the community. A donation through Kivach is a perfect way to show your gratitude for this delightful digital tradition.
From Festive Lights to a Greener Planet: Tech with a Heart
Led Games: Turn Your Christmas Tree into an Arcade
Ever imagined playing Tic-Tac-Toe or the classic Snake game right on your Christmas tree? In 2019, developer Jordy Moos not only imagined it but made it a reality. He meticulously built the software and shared it with the world on GitHub, complete with a comprehensive video tutorial. While not exactly a plug-and-play setup, it promises a truly unique and interactive Christmas activity for the tech-savvy and adventurous.
Bringing Led Games to life starts with a bit of hardware assembly. To build your own gamified Christmas tree, you’ll need components like a WS2811 LED light strip, a Teensy 3.2 microcontroller with an extension board, some Ethernet cables, a Raspberry Pi microcomputer, wire connectors, a DC 5-volt power supply, and a Raspberry Pi camera. These are all relatively low-cost and readily available online. Once you pair Jordy’s code with Teensyduino to control the Teensy and follow his assembly instructions, you’ll have an LED game running on your tree, ready to connect to your video game controller for a festive, pixelated challenge.
This is undeniably a personal project, but it stands as a testament to open-source ingenuity, welcoming contributions from anyone passionate enough to dive in. If you appreciate such inventive projects that push the boundaries of festive decor, Kivach provides an easy way to send some well-deserved thank-you coins to Jordy.
EcoRaiz: Planting the Seeds for a Greener Tomorrow
While the annual felling of Christmas trees might seem ecologically questionable, a real tree is actually more beneficial than an artificial one, fostering ecosystem conservation and green jobs while preventing plastic waste. Better yet, we can actively contribute to reforestation. Enter EcoRaiz, an innovative app created in 2025 by Surya Narayanan, designed to help us do just that.
EcoRaiz is a smart planting platform that pinpoints where new trees can thrive best, helping transform dry or deforested areas back into vibrant green spaces. It’s a truly digital way to “give back” to the planet, especially resonant after the holiday season. The system is remarkably user-friendly: you upload a top-view photo of a piece of land, input key environmental details like temperature, humidity, and soil pH (a measure of acidity or alkalinity), and EcoRaiz analyzes it all. It then recommends long-living tree species perfectly suited for each micro-area, optimizing for success.
This forward-thinking software is still in active development on GitHub, welcoming contributions from both environmental experts and skilled coders. Operating without corporate funding, it relies entirely on community input and support. If you’re inspired to be part of building a greener future, you can contribute code or send a crypto donation via Kivach, directly supporting its ongoing development.
Your Digital Gesture: Supporting Open Source with Kivach
The beauty of open source lies in its collaborative spirit and the sheer generosity of developers sharing their creations with the world. Platforms like Kivach bridge the gap between that generosity and tangible support, making it simple to contribute to projects you value. Whether you’re an avid user of these tools or simply admire the innovation, sending some digital holiday cheer through Kivach is straightforward.
First, you’ll need an Obyte wallet, funded with any Obyte-compatible token (many popular ones are accessible via the Counterstake Bridge). Then, head over to the Kivach website, search for the GitHub repository you wish to support, choose your preferred token and donation amount, and send it. Even if the project owner hasn’t explicitly set up to receive donations yet, your contribution is safely held for them until they’re informed and link their account – just be sure to let them know!
For developers, receiving donations is equally smooth. The process involves linking your GitHub account to your Obyte wallet using the GitHub Attestation chatbot, which verifies you as the legitimate repository owner. From there, you can easily configure how donations are handled: keep them all for your hard work, or even automatically share a portion with other open-source projects that power yours. It’s a transparent, efficient way to get rewarded for your code while simultaneously supporting the broader open-source ecosystem that keeps innovation alive.
Spreading Joy, One Commit at a Time
This holiday season, as we celebrate traditions old and new, let’s also shine a light on the incredible world of open-source software. These projects, born from passion and shared freely, embody the true spirit of giving. From simplifying our gift exchanges to turning our Christmas trees into interactive games, and even helping us reforest the planet, they offer unique ways to engage with technology and make a difference.
Supporting these initiatives through Kivach isn’t just a donation; it’s a vote of confidence in creativity, collaboration, and the power of shared knowledge. It’s a way to ensure these digital gifts keep giving, year after year. So, as you wrap your physical presents, consider a digital one too. Merry Christmas, and happy giving!
